134 - Sobre o que é a disputa acerca do corpo de Moisés (Judas 9)?

 

WHAT DOES IT HAPPEN IN JUDE 9?

 

·        “Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee.” (Jude 9).

 

To understand this passage, we first have to know who the Archangel Michael is:

 

·        “But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days: but, lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me; and I remained there with the kings of Persia.” (Daniel 10.13).

·        “But I will shew thee that which is noted in the scripture of truth: and [ there is ] none that holdeth with me in these things, but Michael your prince.” (Daniel 10.21).

·        “And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation [ even ] to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.” (Daniel 12.1).

 

Note that Michael is an archangel, that is, one of the first princes whose mission is to watch over Israel so that Israel can fulfill the whole mission of the Eternal destined for them.

Second thing to discover is: what is the body of Moses?

To answer this, let us think:

1 - What is the body of sin?

 

·        “Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with [ him ], that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.” (Romans 6.6).

 

It is our body that sin uses to manifest itself while our old man is in control of it.

2 - What is the body of Christ?

 

·        “Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular.” (I Corinthians 12.27).

 

It is the body that Jesus uses to manifest His glory and power, namely, the Church.

Based on this, what is the body of Moses? Obviously, it is the body that Moses uses to manifest himself. You may ask, "But Moses is dead!". Right! However, see:

 

·        “Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father: there is [ one ] that accuseth you, [ even ] Moses, in whom ye trust. For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me: for he wrote of me.” (John 5.45,46).

·        “For Moses of old time hath in every city them that preach him, being read in the synagogues every sabbath day.” (Acts 15.21)

·        “But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the vail is upon their heart.” (2Corinthians 3.15).

 

That is, Moses lives to this day through the laws of the Testament of the Law. And the body that these laws use to manifest themselves is Israel.

The question arises: but, after all, when did this dispute for Israel between the archangel Michael and Ha-Satan happen?

 

·        “And he shewed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him. And the LORD said unto Satan, The LORD rebuke thee, O Satan; even the LORD that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee: [ is ] not this a brand plucked out of the fire? Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and stood before the angel.” (Zacarias 3.1-3).

 

Here Zechariah was being raised together with Haggai to awaken Israel about the mission that the Eternal entrusted to them through Cyrus king of Persia (to rebuild the temple of Jerusalem - Ezra 1.2-4). In order for Zechariah to understand what was really impeding the revival of Israel, the Eternal gives him this vision. In it Israel, represented by the high priest Joshua, was all dirty. Israel's desire to run after their interests (Haggai 1: 2-5) had left them like a piece of wood drawn from the fire, that is, utterly worthless (as in Ezekiel 15: 4-5).

This gave way to Ha-Satan on his right hand to oppose Israel (remember that the leader was used to represent all the people - see Leviticus 10.17; 2 Samuel 24.1). Nevertheless, the LORD arose to rebuke Israel.

The question comes: who is this LORD?

 

•      It cannot be the Eternal in person, for it would not make sense for Him to say, "The Lord rebuke you, O Satan," since He Himself is the Lord.

•      It cannot be Jesus, for He could expel Him directly as He did when He was here in flesh and blood.

•      Soon, it can only be the archangel Michael.

 

You may ask, "But Michael is not LORD!" Right! However, look at what the Lord says to Moses and Jesus to the apostles:

 

·        “And the LORD said unto Moses, See, I have made thee a god to Pharaoh: and Aaron thy brother shall be thy prophet.” (Exodus 7.1).

·        “But when they deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak: for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak. For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you.” (Matthew 10.19,20).

 

When one is completely faithful to the Eternal, to the point of hearing His voice and transmitting the message without the slightest distortion, in essence it is the Eternal Himself who is speaking. This is why it is said that the LORD spoke.

Although the archangel Michael was greater in power and authority than Ha-Satan, though Ha-Satan was completely wrong, yet he himself did not dare to pronounce any infamous judgment against Ha-Satan. He preferred the Eternal Himself to use his mouth to tell Ha-Satan exactly what he needed to hear.

This was to teach us that no matter how right we may be, we have no right to judge anyone. Rather, we should let Jesus use our mouths so that He will say exactly what the person needs to hear.

If even the archangel Michael, who, in addition to being greater in strength and power (which implicitly has to do with purity and holiness) (2Peter 2:11) did not have the audacity to pronounce judgment even against Ha-Satan, who, besides not having possibility of correction (2Peter 2: 4), deserved all insults, curses, etc., who are we to find ourselves in the right to pass judgment on a human being for whom Christ died, and that is as flawed as we are, and who has possibility of repentance?

 

·        “But these speak evil of those things which they know not: but what they know naturally, as brute beasts, in those things they corrupt themselves.” (Jude 10).

 

Archangel Michael made no curse judgment against Ha-Satan because, though he was much greater in knowledge and wisdom than we were, he did not dare to think that he had a full understanding of God's plan. And so he preferred to let the Lord rebukes when His plan had been fulfilled.

How, then, can we speak evil of perverse leaders, if we do not know the reason (Jude 10) for which the Creator granted them this post (see Jonh 19:10,11; Romans 13.1,2). And the worst of it is that whoever intrudes on these protests (Proverbs 24:21) ends up corrupting even in what they understand, becoming like irrational animals.